Waimanalo - Charming Beach Town

Waimanalo hugs the eastern-facing shoreline of the island of O’ahu. It is a perfect example of how the quiet lifestyle of rural Hawaiian beach communities often become the magnet for real estate development and the transformation of oceanfront property. There was even a song written about it. “Waimanalo Blues” was written by Thor Wold and Liko Martin in the 1970’s as a protest song. It is now an iconic anthem for the movement to restore some sanity to unbridled development in the 50^th state.

I grew up on the Big Island, so I didn’t see Waimanalo until I was an adult. But it is one of those special places where the Ko’olau mountains are so close to the shoreline that you feel as if you could reach out and touch both at the same time. The coastline encompassing Waimanalo Bay stretches lazily along six miles of Windward O’ahu from Wailea Point to Makapuu Point. Some of O’ahu’s best beaches and beach parks are along this pristine coast.

Waimanalo, in the Hawaiian language, means “fresh drinking water” - a valuable natural resource for human settlement. In the mid-19^th century, Waimanalo Valley was known to be lush with ‘ulu (breadfruit), ohi’a ‘ai (mountain apple), kukui (candlenut tree), niu (coconut tree), ti plants, mai’a (banana), ‘awapuhi (fragrant ginger flowers), 'uala (sweet potato) and ko (sugar cane).

There were small streams and springs, including one named Waikupanaha, that flowed from the Koolaus into the valley. This life-giving “waimanalo” quenched the thirst of humans and fed the lo’i kalo (taro patches) that were carefully tended as a rich food source.

Waimanalo is a diverse town of almost 5,500 residents, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. Along racial and ethnic lines, Waimanalo is reported to be 24% Asian, 23% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 12% Caucasian, 40% two or more races, and 1% Other.

Thankfully, residential development is limited along Waimanalo Bay’s shores. But because of the limited inventory, the prices are often sky-high and turnover doesn’t happen too often. There is a 3700 sf beachfront home on an 11,000 sf lot currently listed at almost $4 million. In the general area are several large estates, including the 9,000 sf Spanish-colonial home that served as a set for the TV show Magnum P.I. There are also several vacation rentals that are kept busy accommodating tourists who prefer laidback Waimanalo to a Waikiki hotel room. Portions of Baywatch Hawaii were filmed at Waimanalo Beach.

In comparison, Waimanalo is also the location for one of O’ahu’s largest Hawaiian Home Lands communities. Almost 2000 acres was set aside in accordance with the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act approved by the U.S. Congress in 1920 to provide 99-year leased houselots to eligible Native Hawaiians with at least a 50% blood quantum. Most of the older lots didn’t include a house, so the resident built a house but never owned the land and couldn’t sell it. Currently, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ practice is to build a subdivision on leased lots and Native Hawaiian applicants have to have sufficiently good credit and income to qualify for a mortgage. But they still never own the land and can’t sell it. A new subdivision opened last year. Many awarded a lease for a lot had been on the waiting list for decades. One woman interviewed on the occasion had waited more than 50 years to be a homeowner, and she now had to live with her son who could qualify for the mortgage.

Besides the higher-priced beachfront homes and the Native Hawaiian Home Lands houselots, there is also a wide range of private homes, agricultural and pasture lands. Waimanalo is known as horse and farm country, and there are ornamental plant nurseries and ranches in Waimanalo.

Another large landowner that has put Waimanalo’s name on the map is the U.S. government. In 1917, a Presidential Executive Order dedicated more than 1500 acres as the Waimanalo Military Reservation. In 1933 it was renamed Bellows Air Force Station after a WWI hero, 2^nd Lt. Franklin Barney Bellows. Today it is a military recreational and training facility at the north end of Waimanalo Bay. Approximately 125 cottages are available as vacation rentals for up to 2 weeks to active and retired military, reservists, National Guardsmen, and current Dept. of Defense civilian employees. 46 acres of the Bellows portion of Waimanalo Beach is open to the general public on weekends and national holidays, and is a popular destination for locals looking to swim and surf.

Waimanalo is only a half hour drive from Honolulu. But what a beautiful drive! Take the H1 East until the freeway ends. Follow the highway past Hawaii Kai and you'll end up driving up an incline past Hanauma Bay and around the back of Diamond Head. Enjoy the scenery and follow the signs to Waimanalo.

Waimanalo Beaches

· Waimanalo Beach Park

· Bellows Beach Park

Other Attractions and Sightseeing

Sea Life Park (41-202 Kalanianaole Hwy)

Naturally Hawaiian Gallery (41-1025 Kalanianaole Hwy)

Waimanalo Polo Field - Sunday Polo Games - (41-1062 Kalanianaole Hwy)

Olomana Golf Course (41-1801 Kalanianaole Hwy)

Olomana Gardens Discovery Center (41-1140 Waikupanaha St.)

The Shrimp Shack is a bright yellow lunch wagon that is usually parked by the Naturally Hawaiian Gallery, but you can't miss it on the main strip of Kalanianaole Hwy. as you drive through Waimanalo. Their lunch plates are "da bomb". Their specialty is Garlic Shrimp but my favorite is their Coconut Shrimp. They've been featured on the Cooking Channel's Unique Eats, Food Network's Beach Eats, and on the Travel Channel.

Here is a version of the song "Waimanalo Blues" being sung by Country Comfort.

Here are the original words to "Waimanalo Blues":

Waimanalo Blues

by Thor Wold & Liko Martin

Wind's gonna blow so I'm gonna go

Down on the road again

Starting where the mountains Ieft me

I'm up where I began

Where I will go the wind only knows

Good times around the bend

Get in my car, goin' too far

Never comin' back again

Tired and worn I woke up this mornin'

Found that I was confused

Spun right around and found I had lost

The things that I couldn't lose

CHORUS:

The beaches they sell to build their hotels

My fathers and I once knew

Birds all along sunlight at dawn

Singing Waimanalo blues

Down on the road with mountains so old

Far on the country side

Birds on the wing forget in a while

So I'm headed for the windward side

All of your dreams

Sometimes it just seems

That I'm just along for the ride

Some they will cry because they have pride

For someone who's loved here died

The beaches they sell to build their hotels

My fathers and I once knew

Birds all along sunlight at dawn

Singing Waimanalo blues.